(a) "Alternative Dispute Resolution System" means any process or procedure used to

resolve a dispute or controversy, other than by adjudication of a presiding judge of a court or

an officer of a government agency, as defined in this Act, in which a neutral third party
participates to assist in the resolution of issues, which includes arbitration, mediation,
conciliation, early neutral evaluation, mini-trial, or any combination thereof;

(b) "ADR Provider" means institutions or persons accredited as mediator, conciliator,

arbitrator, neutral evaluator, or any person exercising similar functions in any Alternative
Dispute Resolution system. This is without prejudice to the rights of the parties to choose
nonaccredited individuals to act as mediator, conciliator, arbitrator, or neutral evaluator of
their dispute.

Whenever reffered to in this Act, the term "ADR practitioners" shall refer to individuals acting
as mediator, conciliator, arbitrator or neutral evaluator;

(c) "Authenticate" means to sign, execute or adopt a symbol, or encrypt a record in whole or
in part, intended to identity the authenticating party and to adopt, accept or establish the
authenticity of a record or term;

(d) "Arbitration" means a voluntary dispute resolution process in which one or more
arbitrators, appointed in accordance with the agreement of the parties, or rules promulgated
pursuant to this Act, resolve a dispute by rendering an award;

(e) "Arbitrator" means the person appointed to render an award, alone or with others, in a
dispute that is the subject of an arbitration agreement;

(f) "Award" means any partial or final decision by an arbitrator in resolving the issue in a
controversy;

(g) "Commercial Arbitration" An arbitration is "commercial if it covers matter arising from all
relationships of a commercial nature, whether contractual or not;

(h) "Confidential information" means any information, relative to the subject of mediation or
arbitration, expressly intended by the source not to be disclosed, or obtained under
circumstances that would create a reasonable expectation on behalf of the source that the
information shall not be disclosed. It shall include (1) communication, oral or written, made in
a dispute resolution proceedings, including any memoranda, notes or work product of the
neutral party or non-party participant, as defined in this Act; (2) an oral or written statement
made or which occurs during mediation or for purposes of considering, conducting,
participating, initiating, continuing of reconvening mediation or retaining a mediator; and (3)
pleadings, motions manifestations, witness statements, reports filed or submitted in an
arbitration or for expert evaluation;

(i) "Convention Award" means a foreign arbitral award made in a Convention State;

(j) "Convention State" means a State that is a member of the New York Convention;

(k) "Court" as referred to in Article 6 of the Model Law shall mean a Regional Trial Court;

(l) "Court-Annexed Mediation" means any mediation process conducted under the auspices
of the court, after such court has acquired jurisdiction of the dispute;
(m) "Court-Referred Mediation" means mediation ordered by a court to be conducted in
accordance with the Agreement of the Parties when as action is prematurely commenced in
violation of such agreement;

(n) "Early Neutral Evaluation" means an ADR process wherein parties and their lawyers are
brought together early in a pre-trial phase to present summaries of their cases and receive a
nonbinding assessment by an experienced, neutral person, with expertise in the subject in
the substance of the dispute;

(o) "Government Agency" means any government entity, office or officer, other than a court,
that is vested by law with quasi-judicial power to resolve or adjudicate dispute involving the
government, its agencies and instrumentalities, or private persons;

(p) "International Party" shall mean an entity whose place of business is outside the
Philippines. It shall not include a domestic subsidiary of such international party or a
coventurer in a joint venture with a party which has its place of business in the Philippines.

The term foreigner arbitrator shall mean a person who is not a national of the Philippines.

(q) "Mediation" means a voluntary process in which a mediator, selected by the disputing
parties, facilitates communication and negotiation, and assist the parties in reaching a
voluntary agreement regarding a dispute.

(r) "Mediator" means a person who conducts mediation;

(s) "Mediation Party" means a person who participates in a mediation and whose consent is
necessary to resolve the dispute;

(t) "Mediation-Arbitration" or Med-Arb is a step dispute resolution process involving both

mediation and arbitration;

(u) "Mini-Trial" means a structured dispute resolution method in which the merits of a case
are argued before a panel comprising senior decision makers with or without the presence of
a neutral third person after which the parties seek a negotiated settlement;

(v) "Model Law" means the Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration adopted by
the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law on 21 June 1985;

(w) "New York Convention" means the United Nations Convention on the Recognition and
Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards approved in 1958 and ratified by the Philippine
Senate under Senate Resolution No. 71;

(x) "Non-Convention Award" means a foreign arbitral award made in a State which is not a
Convention State;

(y) "Non-Convention State" means a State that is not a member of the New York Convention.

(z) "Non-Party Participant" means a person, other than a party or mediator, who participates
in a mediation proceeding as a witness, resource person or expert;
 (aa) "Proceeding" means a judicial, administrative, or other adjudicative process, including
related pre-hearing motions, conferences and discovery;

(bb) "Record" means an information written on a tangible medium or stored in an electronic

or other similar medium, retrievable form; and

(cc) "Roster" means a list of persons qualified to provide ADR services as neutrals or to
serve as arbitrators.

SEC. 4. Electronic Signatures in Global and E-Commerce Act. - The p

SEC. 17. Enforcement of Mediated Settlement Agreement. - The mediation shall be guided by
the following operative principles:

(a) A settlement agreement following successful mediation shall be prepared by the parties
with the assistance of their respective counsel, if any, and by the mediator.

The parties and their respective counsels shall endeavor to make the terms and condition
thereof complete and make adequate provisions for the contingency of breach to avoid
conflicting interpretations of the agreement.

(b) The parties and their respective counsels, if any, shall sign the settlement agreement.
The mediator shall certify that he/she explained the contents of the settlement agreement to
the parties in a language known to them.

(c) If the parties so desire, they may deposit such settlement agreement with the appropriate
Clerk of a Regional Trial Court of the place where one of the parties resides. Where there is
a need to enforce the settlement agreement, a petition may be filed by any of the parties with
the same court, in which case, the court shall proceed summarily to hear the petition, in
accordance with such rules of procedure as may be promulgated by the Supreme Court.

(d) The parties may agree in the settlement agreement that the mediator shall become a sole
arbitrator for the dispute and shall treat the settlement agreement as an arbitral award which
shall be subject to enforcement under Republic Act No. 876, otherwise known as the
Arbitration Law, notwithstanding the provisions of Executive Order No. 1008 for mediated
dispute outside of the CIAC.